Stranded
by Simplicity Is Bliss
Summary: AKA, Jim's Actually Half Desert Rat. Jim gets himself stranded in the middle of nowhere. Bones has to come rescue him. Oneshot, McKirk, features a kiss.


A/n: Comment fic for Easter 2011's jim_and_bones post. I also wish to inform/remind you that all STxi fics are published on my lj first (the link to which can be found in my profile), in case you might be interested. :)

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><p>Bones allowed his daughter to draw on his hand as he kept his eyes on the road. Where Joanna had gotten that sharpie, he had no idea, but he found a little comfort in the way she manhandled his fingers around while trying to get the heart <em>just<em> right. Turning his attention back to the front of the bus, he continued to search for Jim amid the tumbleweeds and scrub. The damn silly fool had, managed to fuck up his precious bike and was stuck on a roadside somewhere along here until he could be rescued. Bones had told him to get his ass back in bed and not to go out at the break of dawn on that flying deathtrap, but _no,_ Jim hadn't listened and now he had to come find the man. He'd much rather be doing something fun with Joanna than riding a rural route bus in hopes of finding the fool he fell in love with (and why the fuck hadn't he charged his comm before going out?).

Jim came into view sometime in the second hour, resting on his haunches on the sunny roadside besides the (hopefully irreparable) mess of his bike, and breathing an internal sigh of relief, Bones reached up to yank the stop cord. He rounded up Joanna (sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, marker, water, and video game) as the bus slowed to a halt, and felt a little stunned by the sight that greeted him. Fuuuuck, was Jim _hot_. Lean muscle was outlined under tight jeans and a white shirt, and Jim was wearing _those_ boots again. Bones wasn't entirely sure why he loved those boots so much (they were just shoes!) but he did and he found himself looking forward to seeing them dumped haphazardly by their bedroom door, one much closer to the bed than the other.

Joanna seemed to view today as another adventure and the minute her feet touched the asphalt, she was bounding into Jim's arms with a grin. Bones stepped off the bus much more sedately and scowled at him, scanning for injuries as he approached. Jim seemed to be all right. Maybe a little sunburnt, but it'd be gone by Tuesday at the latest and he'd have that obnoxiously attractive golden tan Bones loved despite himself.

"What the hell were you thinking? Careening out of the house at ass o'clock to ride a bike you _know_ is unsound! You're lucky you didn't break your fool neck!" Bones watched his pupils react and put a hand on Jim's jaw to steer his head around, examining his movements.

Jim gave him as much of a wordless shrug as he could with Joanna in his lap and his head at a strange angle by Bones's direction.

"How'd you get the bike out here anyway?" Bones said absently, checking Jim's ability to move his neck. "Thought you left that thing in storage in Iowa."

"Sam owes me a few favors."

"Enough," Bones asked him, "that he dragged that lump of metal down here to Pike's place so you can mess around for a few weeks?"

"Yep," Jim replied. "He was going down to Mexico City anyway, so I called in a favor to get him to make a detour here. Had him leave it at the house yesterday when we were grocery shopping."

"Why didn't you invite him for dinner?" Bones groused, nudging Joanna out of the way gently.

"I did. He couldn't make it 'cause of work." He caught Joanna's mischievous smile as she pulled out the sharpie, and raised his hands to ward her off. "Whoa, Jo, where did you get that?"

Her smile became a grin. "A nice lady at the bus station gave it to me. Want a heart like Daddy's?" she asked. She picked up Jim's hand in hers and turned big green eyes in his direction, waiting for the answer she knew Jim was going to give her.

Jim nodded and smiled at her as she set about drawing a careful heart on the ring finger of his right hand. He looked up at Bones with a lopsided smile. "Am I all right?"

"Yes, Jim," he replied and kissed him briefly. They ignored Joanna's exaggerated retching noise and Bones pulled his comm from a pocket to offer it to Jim. "Call the tow truck, would you? I realize you're half desert rat or something, but McCoys aren't."

Jim gave him a soft, affectionate smile and took the comm from him. "Sure thing."


End file.
